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The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) has announced it will appeal FIFA's ruling to sanction the body for supposedly falsifying the citizenship documents of seven foreign-born players, who have now been suspended from representing the country for one year.

The Global Football Body's Claims and Fines

In September, FIFA levied a penalty of $438,000 on the Malaysian association and suspended the players after finding that their grandparents were not Malaysian by birth as claimed, but rather in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Iberian nation. The global football governing body restated its claims about falsified papers in a disciplinary committee report published on the start of the week.

Each of the individuals – who all took part in Malaysia's four-nil win over Vietnam in the qualifying match for the 2027 Asian Cup this June – was also penalized $2,500.

The implicated individuals includes born in Spain Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces and Iraurgui, born in Argentina Holgado and Machuca, as well as Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano who was originated in the Netherlands, and Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo who was born Brazil.

FIFA's Stance on Document Falsification

"Forgery constitutes, pure and simple, a form of dishonesty," said FIFA in its report.

"The act of forgery undermines the very core of the fundamental principles of football, not only those regulating a player’s eligibility to represent a national team, but also the core ethics of a fair game and the principle of fair play," commented Jorge Palacio, vice-chair of FIFA's ethics panel.

The Association's Response and Challenge Strategy

The international body's document states that the Malaysian association admitted it "was contacted by external agencies regarding the athletes' ancestry and did not attempt to personally confirm the validity of the documentation."

"Initial documentation indicated a stark difference to the submitted papers," it said.

FIFA also said it was "managed to acquire the authentic papers easily," which highlighted a "lack of proper diligence" by the Malaysian body.

The Football Association of Malaysia responded to the global body's allegations in a statement on Tuesday, asserting the discrepancies were the outcome of an "procedural mistake" and the players are "legitimate Malaysian citizens."

"Allegations that the athletes 'obtained or were aware of fake documents' are unfounded as no solid evidence has been provided to date," the announcement said.

The association will submit an formal challenge of the international body's decision, using original documents that have been certified by the national authorities.

Southeast Asian Background and Political Reactions

South-east Asian nations have recently engaged in hiring campaigns for foreign-born athletes, modelled after Indonesia's strategy of recruiting born in the Netherlands players from the overseas community.

Malaysia's sports minister, Hannah Yeoh, said in a release that "FAM needs to finish the challenge procedure and that they cannot remain silent but have to answer plainly to all revelations made by the global authority."

"Fans are upset, hurt and disappointed," she remarked.

Current Status and Upcoming Games

Regardless of doubt surrounding the squad's composition, Malaysia is now placed 123rd in FIFA's AFC ranking and is scheduled to play in qualifying matches for the Asian Cup this month, facing the Laotian team on Thursday.